While thinking about how Kingston Family Vineyards wanted to use winery-related tourism to boost its revenues, I chanced upon an extreme case, Rathfinny in Sussex, England (a sneak preview of our paper!) where it shows how it can be integrated into the business plan from the get-go.
When Mark Driver started Rathfinny in 2012, there would be a 6-year lag (!) before there was any cashflow from the sparkling wines - 3 years for the vines to start producing acceptable fruit, and 3 years for the stock to age sufficiently for release. To cover the gap, they launched the Gun Room (in what used to be the gun store for the Duke of Wellington) as a retail shop featuring local produce in 2013, with the aim of eventually turning it into their Cellar Door (a winery tasting room). The estate's still wines are already available and the sparkling wines will be launched in 2018. They also have a bed & breakfast on the estate, named the Flint Barns, which provides additional income. Apart from cashflow in the short run, both the Gun Room and Flint Barns are positioned as high-touch marketing channels for the wine, strengthening the brand identity and market positioning.
It's probable that Mark's background, as one of the retired directors of the £6bn Horseman Capital Management, a now-shuttered hedge fund, helped him secure funding for this high investment venture, but importantly they've ensured that they have cash coming in while their bottles of bubbly mature.
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